Ayman JalloulWork Samples

Last Updated: July, 2015

The ContempleVertical Studio, Third YearA themed vertical design studio that addressed the act of reading, literature and their relationship to architecture to explore a new design approach to site, program and building. The studio started with choosing of a book that changed our lives as a guiding tool. And then, inspired by that book, a reading station was built 1:1 followed by a design research and finally a project specified by themes selected from the book.

Complying with the theme of the studio, the book I selected was “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. The book had initiated questioning of beliefs and an infinite process of reading. Thus, the first phase of the studio was to conceptually translate these notions into “an object that you cannot believe”. The station appears to be limited and opaque but is contradicted by a reflective interiors that creates the illusion of an infinite space where the act of reading is repeated indefinitely.

The Reading Station: An Object You Cannot Believe

Observatory

The ConTemple

The observatory gives a glimpse into the scale of the universe’s breadth an complexity. The public observatory also allows visitors to look onto the city as well as into the skies.

The second part of the studio moved into translating the book into architecture through the selection of a site a program. The ConTemple was then proposed as an alternative to a place were faith is practiced, a space where questions are asked and issues are debated - a secular alternative to a religious building on a religiously charged site in Down Town, Beirut.

2Public Garden

Public space has always been an essential component of any public buildings’ urban statement,whether it’s a Church’s Piazza or the open space in front of any public building. Accordingly, the ConTemple’s roof offers a public garden in a city where the public domain is scarce.

3Library + Exhibitions + Lecture Halls

The mediums of art, philosophy and science have always been the backbones of human questioning, and each floor of “The ConTemple” is dedicated to one of these mediums with a library as a common mediator between these mediums.

4Circulation

Circulation was conceived as a single closed infinite loop that starts and ends at the same point and connects the various “chapters” of the building. The ramps link to the main tower and the observatory that is accessed from the lowest floor. The end of the journey returns the visitors back to the entrance, where the experience of the building all started.

1

Contrasting the neighboring religious buildings’ massing, the ConTemple is designed as a void underground rather than a mass or a block above ground. Also, rather than being flanked by a steeple/minarets that thin to point to the heavens above, the ConTemple is landmarked by a “grounded” arch that

takes visitors up to the skies, but always returns them back to “reality”. Moreover, The tower is imagined as a place where art installations can possibly be hosted (above). or as a new landmark in the skyline, be lit to celebrate different occasions through the year (left).

With the ultimate aim of asking questions, the ConTemple itself poses as a foreign object in the skyline, an oddity that brings the city dwellers to question the nature this architectural object.

Due to the debate nature of the ConTemple, the library has an open floor plan with books displayed and grouped by topic on an open floor plan, allowing for the constant exchange of ideas and the discovery of new titles and interests.

The ConTemple in The CityA

The Open-Plan Library B

Comprehensive Studio Fall Fourth YearThe aim of this studio was to design a mixed use building through understanding the various systems of tall buildings and their implications on design

The LL BuildingComprehensive Studio, Fourth YearThe aim of this studio was to design a mixed use building through understanding the various systems of tall buildings and their implications on design. The design process relied on integrating information acquired in previous courses and studios and constant consultation with engineering professors at AUB to fully develop a comprehensively designed mixed use tower.

Expanding the views for the residences on the upper floors.

Enlarging the floor plate to cater for a larger office typologies.

The programmatic division of the project consisted mostly of offices with differing typologies, high end residences on the upper floors and a theatre, cafes and a public piazza on the ground and underground levels.

Creating a public piazza on the ground floor by minimizing the footprint.

The LL Building

Soil

Steel Bars

Climber

Louver

Water Weep

Fiber Concrete

Aluminum Pro�le

Steel Tie

Column

Vierendeel Beam

Stainless SteelCorniche

False Ceiling

Overhang

Water Weep

Fiber Concrete

Aluminum Pro�le

Steel Tie

Column

Vierendeel Beam

Stainless SteelCorniche

False Ceiling

Fiber Concrete

Section At 1:20 of Facade with Green Climber(Housing)

Section At 1:20 of Facade Glazing on North (Housing + O�ces)

Facade Detail with Climber

The span of the two towers’ cantilevers required a full research into structural systems and solutions that could allow for such a form. The research took into consideration the implications of these solutions on the building’s expression and design and space limitations.

The proposed structural solution relied on a system composed of the following:

Structurally stable facade planes that are structured with Vierendeel Beams.

These planes are tied together through beams that continued through the slabs.

A cast core that acts as a support to the structural system of Vierendeel Beams.

Consolidating the structure into the facade so that the floor plates are freed from interior columns or structural elements, thus allowing for ultimate flexibility.

Interior bracings through the cantilever link it to the main part of the tower. The implications of this is that it limits the partitioning of the interior.

This solution treats the cantilever as a separate building imposed on the main part of the tower. The drop beams would occupy a whole floor to transfer the loads.

A cast core is basically one large “L” cast in concrete or steel the top arm of the L is on top of the building and the slabs of hang to it.

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3

1

4

Vierendeel Beams

The Structure

Interior Bracing

Cast Core

Drop Beams

Glass and Louvers

Fiber ConcreteColumn

Overhang

Insutlation

Viendereel Beam

Tie Beam

Steel Anchor

Fiber Concrete

As part of understanding Passive and Active Systems, the facade performance relied on a shadow analysis of a nearby high rise and self shading to develop a heat map that was later input into Grasshopper to generate the facade script.

Using the shadow analysis and Grasshopper 3D, vertical and horizontal shading louvers were modeled.

3D diagram showing the facade components.

The Facade

Eat, Train, LearnVertical Studio, Fourth YearA design studio with a workshop whose theme focused on the urbanization of Lebanese mountains, and the creation of a themed public park on the often neglected valleys of these mountains. As a unifying theme, I chose mountain biking as a theme and program for the park and its architectural component.

A Grasshopper script was developed to output different bike paths within the site. The parameters of the patch were the total distance and elevation traveled and the steepness of each track. Using the following steps, the bike tracks were modeled: Grouping points of similar slopes together. Selecting points according to schematic paths developed through a Raster Analysis in ArcGIS.Interpolating points according to the parameters of path difficulty and bike turning radii.Elevating intersection points to resolve trails as a single system.

123m Length + 22m Elev. Difference

340m Length + 34m Elev. Difference

Using ArcGIS several data layers were overlaid to develop micro-climates that later helped create the trails of the bike park along with the Grasshopper script. The layers were:

Soil and VegetationWater TrailsTerrain Raster Analysis of Hill-shade and Solar Aspects

Two Trails Generated By The Script

Determining Tracks with Grasshopper

Using ArcGIS to Understand Micro-Climates

The different trails developed on the selected site

Train

Learn

Eat

Boosting Metabolisms / Eat, Train, Learn

Bike Center, Bike Jumps, Fitness Area, Lap Pools

Exhibitions, Library, Projection Room

Shake Bar, Restaurant, Souq (Market)

Under the theme of “Boosting Metabolisms”, the second phase of the studio focused on developing the architectural component of the initial proposal but with a new programmatic requirement: A culinary institute and restaurant.

1:500 CNC made Relief Model

As part of the studio, a 3 week workshop in CAM/CAD tools was conducted. Throughout, different components of the building were modeled. The process involved going back and forth between iterations made in physical models and computer modeled prototypes using a CNC machine and a 3D printer.

The varying parameter in the iteration process was the differing bike ramps and their integration into the building form. At this level, they were still at the periphery and not affecting the form.

The final iteration integrated the different bike ramps and allowed these circulation paths to shape the building experience and form. As a final refinement, a component of the building was prototyped using a 3D printer before building the final models (left)

Model Iterations

1:200 Model

Bike Ramp: Level 01

Bike Ramp: Level 03Exhibition Space

Market

Designing ValueFinal Year Project Design & Research, Fifth YearThis studio was the second part of a year-long thesis project - the architectural design derived and developed from the issues raised and researched in the first part of year. The topic I researched focused on the role that real estate development has on architecture and the means through which architecture can help in the process of value creation. The first part of the thesis focuses on defining the values of the built environment and the frameworks through which different values are compromised.

Looped: Gallery + Music Academy

Segmented: Restaurants, Cafes + Observatory

Direct: Private Access to the High End Housing

Direct + Looped: Collaborative Workspaces

Price of 1sqm of Land in Zone 2 $12500.00

Total Area 2250

Total Cost of Land $28,125,000

Average Cost of 1sqm in Achrafieh (Comparable Properties) $6,500

Construction Cost (Hard Costs)

1 sqm above ground $1,800

1sqm below ground $800

Built Up Area Above Ground 18,711

Built Up Area Below Ground 9,000

Total Cost of Construction $69,004,800

Sqm Sellable for Immediate Return 10,616 57%

Remaining Operable Area 8,095 43%

Areas

Site Area 2250

TER Of Zone 02 5 11250

Corner site Additional 20% Exploitation 1.2 13500

Balconies 20% Exempted 1.2 16200

Piloti Floor Up to 5% of the exploitation 1.05 17010

External Walls

External double walls are not

included in the exploitation

1.1 18711

Observatory + Supporting Cafe

Spa

High End Housing

Digital Library

Music Rooms + Exhibtion

Work Spaces

Student Housing

Open GalleriesClosed Exhibitions

Restaurant

PubBook Shop/ Cafe

(9250 sqm)

(3400 sqm)

Site Area

Corner SiteBalconies

TER = 5

Piloti FloorExternal Walls

Terraces + Extra Cars

Shuffling Hierarchies Determining Proportions

High End Apartments

Observatory + Cafe

Spa

LibraryRestaurant

Workspaces

Music Rooms

Galleries + Exhibitions

Bookshop / Cafe

StudentHousing

Typologies of Value

The economies of space have always set out a hierarchy in the organization of space, be it at the scale of city vs suburb or the penthouse vs apartment. These hierarchies, especially in the context of development in Beirut have resulted in a pricing out of certain spatial experiences to certain publics. This mode of development naturally affects the typologies of development and their design. The aim of this project thus is to shuffle these hierarchies while keeping in mind the feasibility of the project in terms of the strict building law in Beirut, codes and profit expectations of a developer.

Through a study of existing typologies of development, one can observe that the public domain in most developments is limited to the ground floor or to the top floor of the building. In the context of Beirut, development takes form of private enclaves that prioritize value for a specific segment of the population, prioritizing monetary value over other values.

A - Setbacks and Site Planes B - Key Height Points on Site C - Key Height Points From Setback D - Three Main Pedestrian and Programmatic Axes from Site Finalized massing with site keypoints

+ + + =

Massing Strategy

Setbacks + SightPlanes

Key Height PointsFrom Site

Key Height PointsFrom Building Law

Site Axes in Relation To Program and Site

Finalized Massing Iteration

The Ground FloorAs a meeting grounds and the starting point of the various experiences of the building, the design of the ground floor was essential in how it connects to existing programs and their circulation in the neighborhood and how the complimentary programs of the site are presented on the ground floor. Without compromising the interests of any of the user groups, the ground floor acts as an informal meeting point to an increasingly classist and divided city.

Contact:aaj16@mail.aub.eduaj1640@nyu.edu+961 71 143007